World Series 2024: What we've learned about Dodgers, Yankees - ESPN

Two games into the 2024 World Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers have taken a 2-0 lead on the New York Yankees.

First the Dodgers took the opener in dramatic fashion, winning an instant classic on Freddie Freeman's 10th-inning walk-off grand slam.

Then, in Game 2, the Dodgers rode a strong outing by starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a 4-2 victory — but now await word on the status of superstar Shohei Ohtani after he exited in the seventh inning with an apparent shoulder injury.

As both teams make their way to New York for Game 3 at Yankee Stadium on Monday night, our MLB experts break down what we've seen — and where this World Series will go from here.

Jorge Castillo: Aaron Judge's struggles. Judge wasn't the out-of-this-world MVP version of himself in the ALDS or ALCS, but he still worked his walks and hit that crucial game-tying home run against Emmanuel Clase in Game 3 in Cleveland. The logic here was that Judge, who did the best peak Barry Bonds impersonation we've seen during the regular season, would eventually snap out of his October funk and fuel the Yankees' offense. Instead, he's been worse this series. Judge has gone 1-for-9 with six strikeouts in the first two games. He has whiffed on 32 of his 59 swings over the past five games.

Alden Gonzalez: The strength of the Dodgers' starting pitching. Jack Flaherty got into the sixth inning in Game 1 and gave up only a two-run homer to Giancarlo Stanton. Yoshinobu Yamamoto recorded 19 outs in Game 2 and allowed just one hit — a solo home run to Juan Soto. Starting pitching was supposed to be the Yankees' strength; the Dodgers would attempt to overcome it with a deep bullpen and an even deeper lineup. And though Gerrit Cole pitched very much like an ace in Game 1, Carlos